Police in Hong Kong fired tear gas on Saturday at protesters who defied authorities’ warnings not to march in a neighbourhood where six days earlier a mob apparently targeting demonstrators brutally attacked people in a train station.
Protesters wearing black streamed through Yuen Long, even though police refused to grant permission for the march, citing risks of confrontations between demonstrators and local residents.
For the protesters, it was a show of defiance against the white-clad assailants who beat dozens of people last Sunday night, including some demonstrators heading home after the latest mass protest in the summer-long pro-democracy movement.
Police in Hong Kong fired tear gas at protesters on Saturday who defied authorities’ warnings not to march in a neighbourhood where six days earlier a mob apparently targeting demonstrators brutally attacked people in a train station.
Protesters wearing black streamed through Yuen Long, even though police (pictured firing tear gas today) refused to grant permission for the march, citing risks of confrontations between demonstrators and local residents
For the protesters (pictured), it was a show of defiance against the white-clad assailants who beat dozens of people last Sunday night, including some demonstrators heading home after the latest mass protest in the summer-long pro-democracy movement
The streets of Yuen Long became a sea of colourful umbrellas as the march began again on Saturday afternoon (pictured)
An anti-extradition bill protester attends the mass rally in Yuen Long. He holds a Captain America-style shield as another holds a US flag in the background
Police said some of the attackers at the train station were connected to triad gangs and others were villagers who live in the area.
The streets of Yuen Long became a sea of umbrellas as the march began Saturday afternoon.
A symbol going back to the Occupy Central protests that shook Hong Kong in 2014, umbrellas have become tools to help protesters conceal their identities from police cameras as well as shields against tear gas and pepper spray.
A symbol going back to the Occupy Central protests that shook Hong Kong in 2014, umbrellas have become tools to help protesters conceal their identities (pictured) from police cameras as well as shields against tear gas and pepper spray
‘Hong Kong police know the law and break the law,’ protesters chanted as they made their way through the streets Saturday afternoon
Less than three hours after the start of the march on Saturday, police fired tear gas (pictured) to try to disperse the large crowd
The government issued a statement at around the same time warning that police would move in to break up the demonstration. Pictured: A protester wears a mask as he rests during the protest
Demonstrators use makeshift shields and umbrellas to protect themselves from rubber bullets and tear gas during the protest
Some also wore masks to obscure their faces.
‘Hong Kong police know the law and break the law,’ protesters chanted as they made their way through the streets.
Less than three hours after the start of the march, police fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowd.
One protester washes his face and drinks after riot police fired tear gas during the mass rally. The demonstrator wears a mask to protect their identity
The statement said that some protesters were ‘holding iron poles, self-made shields and even removing fences from roads,’ and that some had surrounded and vandalized a police vehicle with officers inside. Pictured: Police open fire with tear gas on protesters
Protesters’ umbrellas invert as as they hold them out in front of them to fend off the tear gas shot at them by police this afternoon
A group of demonstrates react to tear gas, with one of them kicking a canister away. He wears a mask and hard hat to lessen the impact of the gas and rubber bullets fired by police
A demonstrator is seen injured by a rubber bullet during a protest. He holds a tissue to his leg as a bruise starts to form above his hand
The Umbrella Movement stand united in Yuen Long amid the high-rise skyscrapers of the city. it comes six days after the pro-democracy activists were beaten by suspected triads
The government issued a statement at around the same time warning that police would move in to break up the demonstration.
The statement said that some protesters were ‘holding iron poles, self-made shields and even removing fences from roads,’ and that some had surrounded and vandalized a police vehicle with officers inside.
Earlier, the government said in another statement that police were concerned about a ‘possible deterioration of the situation.’
A young demonstrator bleeds from the head after getting caught up in the protests this afternoon. He sits next to medics
‘Police appeal to members of the public to stay calm and leave the area as soon as possible as a chaotic scene may ensue within a short period of time,’ the earlier statement said
‘Police appeal to members of the public to stay calm and leave the area as soon as possible as a chaotic scene may ensue within a short period of time,’ the earlier statement said.
Hong Kong’s public transit network had announced that its trains would not be making their usual stops in Yuen Long on Saturday.
Several area businesses and public facilities were closed in anticipation of the march.
Service at a nursing center was temporarily suspended, and sports venues shut down early.
A few hours before the march started, a man was arrested in Yuen Long for injuring someone with a knife, police said.
Massive demonstrations began in Hong Kong early last month against an extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to face trial in mainland China, where critics say their rights would be compromised.
The bill was eventually suspended, but protesters’ demands have grown to include direct elections, the dissolution of the current legislature and an investigation into alleged police brutality in the Chinese territory.
A former British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 under the framework of ‘one country, two systems.’
The arrangement promises the city certain democratic freedoms that are not afforded mainland citizens, but some residents say these liberties have been steadily eroded in recent years after the arrests of booksellers and democracy activists.
A distrust of China’s Communist Party-led central government in Beijing has undergirded the protests this summer.
After last Sunday’s march, a group of protesters vandalised Hong Kong’s Liaison Office, which represents the mainland government.
They spray-painted the building’s surveillance cameras and threw eggs and black ink at the Chinese national emblem, an act that Beijing has vehemently condemned.
In response to the police’s objection to Saturday’s march in Yuen Long, protesters have cheekily labeled the procession a ‘shopping trip,’ as well as a memorial service for former Chinese premier Li Peng, who died on Monday.
Li was a hard-liner best known for announcing martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that ended in bloodshed.
Some Yuen Long residents participated in the march, while others stood outside with signs warning protesters not to enter.
For their part, demonstrators pasted calls for democracy on sticky notes around the area.
‘After the violence (last Sunday), as a resident of Yuen Long, I think I have the responsibility to come out,’ said a 24-year-old man surnamed Man.
‘After all these protests in past months, the government still hasn’t responded to us.’